Even after he had finished eating with the Marquis, Kieron could not stop the storm of questions raging inside him.

Why?

Why had everything ended so easily and so abruptly?

If this was all it took, why had that condition been set in the first place?

Why had he treated Ariadne the way he had?

He could have lied.

Wouldn’t pretending that his feelings had softened have been enough? And yet, despite everything, the Marquis said he would take care of it.

All of it.

Not just the support he had offered from the beginning, but the matter involving the Council of Elders, too.

Kieron felt the weight of it settle heavily in his chest, leaving him feeling more unsettled than relieved.

“I heard the Council has failed to keep its promise.”

“I can handle that myself.”

“I do not doubt Your Grace’s ability. However, I am a man who believes that everything, whether a person or an object, should be valued accordingly. I am displeased when the resources invested in the Council fail to justify their cost. I hope you understand.”

‘Worth.’

He kept talking about worth.

Was Kieron really just a man whose only value was that he had finally turned his heart towards his wife? Was that the full extent of the Marquis’s regard?

Questions tangled in Kieron’s mind, knotted and overlapping. Nothing formed a clear line of thought and nothing followed naturally from one point to the next.

Every time he grasped one thread, another surfaced somewhere else, scattering his thoughts in all directions. It would have been easier if one question led neatly into another and everything flowed seamlessly.

But this was nothing like that.

It was messier.

More frustrating.

And far more painful.

Even after the meal had ended, he couldn’t bring himself to go home. He needed time and space to make sense of the chaos within him. If he went back now, nothing would change. It would be no different to yesterday or the day before.

He even found himself contemplating turning around and seeking out the Marquis again, in the hope of receiving an explanation that might ease the turmoil churning in his chest.

But a man could only beg for answers so many times. If he went to see the Marquis again today, he might not make it home at all. He would be consumed by an even tighter, heavier snarl of thoughts.

So, with his head feeling as though it might split open, Kieron walked. And walked.

Across the palace grounds.

Through the garden of his estate.

He went wherever his feet took him.

Had something been wrong from the start? Or did the mistake begin the moment he sought out the Marquis?

The pressure inside him grew, becoming unbearable, as if he were on the verge of imploding. If he had known it would spiral into this, he might never have examined his own feelings in the first place.

As he wandered aimlessly, lost in thought, he eventually crossed paths with Derrick, who was outside.

“Your Grace! When did you return?”

Kieron had instructed Herald not to inform anyone of his arrival, so no one except Herald knew he was back.

Seeing Derrick rush towards him in a panic, Kieron shook his head.

“I told him not to inform anyone. You don’t need to look so startled. I simply came in quietly because I needed time to think.”

“Did something happen at the palace?”

Upon hearing this, Derrick’s expression became even more startled.

When Kieron left for the palace, he had looked unusually composed, as if he had finally made up his mind about something. But the man who returned now looked nothing like that.

Derrick carefully studied his master, resisting the urge to sigh.

“There was an issue.”

Kieron said, sounding almost despondent.

“Do you remember that I once told you I’d made a deal with Marquis Peyton?”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

Derrick answered calmly. Even now, the memory of that time made him tremble with anger, but he did his best not to show it. It wasn’t his place to be angry or offended; if anyone should be, it was the master himself.

Suppressing his emotions, he waited for Kieron to continue.

“I went today to ask if he would reconsider the terms of that deal.”

Kieron gave a brief summary of what had happened and how the Marquis’s response had left him reeling.

Logically, it should have been easy to accept; yet for some reason, he simply couldn’t make sense of it. He ended with a long sigh.

“I can’t understand it. He imposed that condition so firmly, and now he’s willing to remove it just because I said my feelings have shifted? Just from that one sentence?”

Despite his concerns, Derrick felt a flicker of admiration. His master, who had lived his whole life without considering his own emotions and had always moved forward without reflecting on himself, was finally beginning to explore his feelings.

Even though he had started this process to avoid trouble, he was still confronting feelings he had never dared acknowledge before.

To Derrick, that alone was remarkable. However, he also thought that perhaps Kieron didn’t need to agonize so much.

“Your Grace, I don’t believe this is something you need to trouble yourself over so deeply.”

“Not something to trouble myself over?”

Kieron frowned, feeling bewildered. If it wasn’t a cause for concern, how was he supposed to interpret such a sudden change in attitude?

Before he could become confused again, Derrick continued calmly.

“First and foremost, Marquis Peyton is a father. He is a man with a daughter. A person like that would never cling to conditions when faced with someone who has promised to cherish their child. Moreover, Your Grace, you are not just that person; you are the man his daughter loves.”

Over the years, Derrick had learnt how to allay his master’s concerns. Sometimes, it was better not to ask questions. Sometimes, it was better to live comfortably within one’s own assumptions.

Kieron stared at him, still taken aback.

“Just for that reason? Even though he sent his daughter to the Ambrose household, the Marquis has invested a huge amount up until now.”

“Because he sent his daughter, Isn’t that natural? When entrusting someone precious to another, one must send an equivalent sum of money with them. Only then does a parent feel at ease. And Your Grace is not the kind of man who would simply ignore that sum.”

Derrick said this with a gentle smile.

“I’m certain the marquis understood that long ago. And I believe he has been waiting for the day Your Grace would come to understand the meaning behind that condition.”

‘The meaning of the condition.’

Kieron rubbed his throbbing temples, trying to think. In trying to solve one problem, he had created another that he couldn’t fathom.

Although he didn’t know the meaning of the condition, he did understand one thing: the Marquis was simply an ordinary, devoted father.

Kieron wondered briefly if all fathers were supposed to be like that. He had never had anyone he could call that. After a moment’s thought, he turned his head.

“Where is my wife?”

“She should be in her room. I saw her leaving the study a little earlier.”

“Good. I’ll go to her.”

Kieron walked without hesitation.

His head was still a jumble of thoughts, but he clung to the hope that talking to Ariadne might help him make sense of things.

Although he hadn’t organized a single word of what he intended to say, his feet simply carried him forward.

“Are you inside?”

He knocked lightly on her door, and after a moment he sensed movement.

Then click—the door opened.

“Your Grace?”

Ariadne peeked out with a surprised expression, the door half-opened. Since she had opened it herself, she was clearly alone.

“Where has the maid gone, that my wife is answering the door herself?”

“Oh— I sent her to bring up my meal. Is something the matter?”

She remained standing in the doorway, and Kieron stood where he was. He stared at the scene for a moment before asking,

“May I come in?”

“Ah—yes! Yes, please come in.”

Had she simply forgotten to invite him inside? Seeing her flustered expression as she pulled the door open wider, he let out a faint, silent laugh.

He entered and took a seat on the sofa.

“What brings you here, Your Grace?”

Ariadne sat down opposite him and asked him immediately. The look in her eyes seemed to ask, ‘What are you doing here at this hour?’

This made him wonder whether he had really visited her so infrequently until now.

Had the Marquis been worried about this as well?

Shoving these thoughts aside, he decided to start the conversation.

“I went to the palace today.”

“Oh—yes. I heard. I was told you had something to attend to.”

“I was on my way back after speaking with Princess Sylvia. She said she would discuss it with her fiancé and see if she could change the groomsman.”

“Change the groomsman? Does that mean someone else will stand in my place?”

Ariadne blinked in surprise, her eyes widening. She had already agreed to participate, so this sudden change clearly startled her. But it wasn’t her side that was being changed — it was the other side.

Kieron shook his head.

“No, you will stand as the princess’s maid of honor. Young Lord Peyton’s groomsman will be replaced.”

“You asked Her Highness to do that?”

Ariadne’s mouth fell open in surprise.

Realizing this was impolite, she quickly covered it with her hand. However, that brief expression was enough to show just how startled she was.

She blinked several times, unable to find any words.

Kieron, taken aback by her reaction, spoke again in a calm voice.

“Changing the groomsman is not something you or I can do ourselves.”

“But… I just don’t see why it had to be changed to that extent.”

She glanced at him cautiously, her face full of questions, wondering why he would go so far.…And truthfully, Kieron did not have a precise explanation he could offer either.

“Do you remember what the princess told us yesterday about the political implications behind the choice of groomsman?”

Even as he spoke, he was prepared to explain everything again if she needed him to.

Ariadne wasn’t well-versed in worldly matters, and when Princess Sylvia had explained the political situation the previous day, Ariadne hadn’t seemed to have understood it fully.

To Kieron, however, it had felt natural.

Ariadne had grown up like a treasured flower in a greenhouse, sheltered and protected by her family all her life.

If she needed help to understand something as complex as political interests, he was ready to explain it to her as many times as necessary.